Musings on a Small Life

I went downtown yesterday (Sunday the 26th) for a latté and a long walk along the waterfront paths. I did the same walk as I had done on January 12th, but what a difference two weeks of freezing temps has made! Two weeks ago the water was open, just ice on the rocks along the shoreline. Not now! The fellow in the above snapshot was drilling through the ice to fish. Originally I had thought to walk to Portsmouth Olympic Harbour and even into Lake Ontario Park, but after 90+ minutes of walking into the biting wind, I gave up and called it quits, waited for a bus to head for errands. It was great to be out...and it was also great to be indoors again, and cosy. LOL. Take care, all!

Degrees Celsius this morning. Comments are off. 🥶🥶🥶

The end of the week and weekend were not without adventure, one bothersome in a minor way and the others fun for me (pic-taking). Pic below from early Saturday morning. It was bitterly cold at the waterfront and the steam was rising from the warmer water. I nearly froze, even wearing thermal layers, and I didn't linger. Anyway, to back track....When I got home from work Friday afternoon I could hear my hot water tank running, not usual in and of itself. But then I heard it click off and come right back on. Uh oh. I went downstairs to check it out and saw the error code: Fortunately it's a rental from our utilities company, which is deliberate on my part. So I called their after-hours line and a short time later the on-duty tech came out to take a look. By that time the tank had shut off and the fellow did a cursory check (very cursory), left saying all seemed fine. Well, when the tank came on later in the evening, of course I got the error again, so I had to ...

After taking a year or two off, the Ikea Assembly Queen has returned! My excitement for Friday evening: Putting together the little Ikea Tyssedal storage stool I'd ordered. It had been delivered on Tuesday, but had to wait till week's end for assembly. I ordered it partly because I'm always on the hunt for affordable double-duty furniture, and partly to see if I'd like the series. I've had my eye on a 4-drawer Tyssedal bureau for a while now. While I do like the storage bench very much, I now don't think I'd buy the bureau, as the series has a more traditional appearance than I care for. Still, if the price--and shipping costs--are ever right.... I had hesitated to order it because one reviewer had said it was difficult to assemble. I actually found it straightforward, didn't even make a mistake. Maybe having a couple of glasses of wine while I was putting it together helped? Nicki approved! It's currently up in my be...

I see it's been 10 days since I've done a blog post, so I ought to make an effort. I've got nothing, though. It's winter, it's freezing, I'm either at work or doing the usual stuff at home on the weekends. The boys are okay. I've been trying to cut back on their food, but Derry keeps getting fatter and the one who doesn't need to lose any weight, Nicki, has. He looks too thin to me now, but that might be just because of Derry's sheer size. I think I need some help in trying to get some weight off of him (Derry). It's tough, when you have two pets with two different body types and eating styles! I have nothing but admiration for the many who have a full house of companion Beings and who have to juggle so many different dietary (and health) needs! That in itself is almost a full-time job.   Nicki has a vet appointment on Monday the 21st, for regular stuff, and I've got a few things to follow up on (kidney stones, his weight loss, and...

Surely it can't be a cold virus for two solid months, keeping me this congested every. single. day. I must be allergic to winter. It was a quiet weekend at our place. I had to run up to Walmart on Saturday to return something I had bought online (they sent me the wrong size), and for the first time ever, I wussed out and took a taxi to go shopping. The windchill was minus 38C at the time and I. just. could. not. bear to stand outside waiting for a bus, even dressed in layers. I didn't even leave the house on Sunday. It was minus 35C in the morning, with the wind, and I'd had enough. I went back to bed at 8:30 AM instead of heading out. The boys had the right idea: Nicki, above, was sitting on a small stool covered with one of the Ikea faux "sheepskin" rugs. (I have two others in the house for them, one on the living room floor, one on the bedroom ottoman.) Derry, meanwhile, snuggled up on the couch. Smart cats! Today is "war...